Slaine: ‘It Was Time To Turn The Page’

DENVER - AUGUST 22: The microphone stands ready at the main podium where speakers will address delegates to the Democratic National Convention at the Pepsi Center in Denver, Colorado August 22, 2008 Some 1,500 students visited the convention hall Friday to see the unveiling of the Convention podium. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

(Credit: John Moore/Getty Images)

Actor and rapper Slaine made an in-studio appearance on Ferrall on the Bench on Thursday to discuss his new album, The King of Everything Else, and his past struggles with alcoholism.

“I’m just out here (in New York) for a couple days and then I got to fly back out to L.A.,” Slaine explained. “So I’m all over the place right now, getting ready to hit the road again.”

Slaine will be performing tracks from his new album – as well as some old-school favorites – for the next three or four months throughout the East Coast, Australia and Europe, among other places. It’s good to see the Boston native out and about again, as he recently had to take some time off for personal reasons.

“I kind of burnt out and crashed a little bit and I had to take some time to get myself back together,” he explained. “I’ve done like 25 shows over the past six months, which is kind of a tame schedule for me, but I got some stuff coming up for the next (few months).”

Slaine said he needed a break from the touring lifestyle.

“It was just a long time living, drinking every day and doing all that stuff,” he said. “But part of the lifestyle of the road kind of goes with that. You need to be on every night. So to get yourself back to that point, you have a few drinks.”

Slaine is a big sports fan – he gets a DirecTV package on his tour bus – but for a time he wasn’t keeping up on anything. He said he was “underneath the rock for a couple months” because he knew he “had to get my life back together.”

He has.

“When I first met you,” Slaine said to Scott Ferrall, “we were both kind of hitting it pretty hard, and then I came in on the show one time and you were sober and I was like, ‘What?’ And now I’m that guy. Now I got friends that are like, ‘What do you mean you’re sober? People don’t like it when you get sober. They love you, but they don’t want to hang out with you because you make them feel bad about themselves.”

“I don’t care what anybody does. It doesn’t bother me at all to be around people drinking. But people look at themselves when they see you’re sober and they think you’re judging them or they’re judging themselves.”

Slaine then cleared up a misconception about sobriety.

“I’m a world champion drinker,” he said. “People think you quit drinking because you can’t handle it. My problem is I can handle it. I can go all day. I can go for days and days without maybe an hour of sleep here and there – and I can still get my work done. I can still record. I can still do shows. That’s the worst kind of drunk because there’s no reason to stop.”

Slaine has been sober for the past six months and loves it. He loves going to the gym and lifting weights and getting a little cardio in. He feels strong. He feels good.

“I don’t know what the difference was this time – because I’ve tried (to quit drinking) before – but I just decided to stop,” he said. “My time is stretched thin enough. I was coming home to see my son and then just not seeing him the way I wanted to see him. I didn’t want him to be the kid who’s sitting on the step waiting for dad to come and then dad never comes. That was just the most horrifying feeling that I could have.”

“I had a lot of good times over the years, but it was just time to turn the page,” Slaine continued. “I’ve kind of beat so many odds and got so many great opportunities for myself. I just feel like I was kind of spitting in the face of those opportunities by doing that.”